China becomes the second richest country in the world in 2015

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International wealth report by the investment bank Credit Suisse

A new world record in its economic history.

According to an international wealth report published by the investment bank Credit Suisse on the October 13th, China is become the world’s 2nd wealthiest nation. The Reference News Network reported that China is behind America, and in front of Japan, the world’s former 2nd wealthiest nation. Moreover, China also has the world’s largest middle class, with 109 million people.

However, Reuter News Agency declared on October 13th in a report that the total value of the world’s total wealth lost 12.4 trillion USD, so a decrease of 4.7%, and ended at 250 trillion USD. The report says this calculation was made according to the currency value. Moreover, this rapport explains that this decrease in U.S Dollar value, which is affecting other main currencies values, has influenced the pressure of stock and real-estate leaning.

The report showed a prize list about the world’s richest countries, led by America, with 85.9 trillion USD, China, with 22.8 trillion USD and Japan, with 19.8 trillion USD.

China surpasses Japan

If China surpassed Japan this year and now holds the 2nd place, it is because of favorable trends for the Chinese Yuan (CNY or RMB) against others currencies. Moreover, Japan has seen his household income fall in 15%.

In only half a year, China’s stock exchange capitalization has risen to 150%, although this increase has not equally influenced household wealth. Indeed, household wealth is formed by a small part of financial asset, which is also constituted by a small part of shares.

According to the report, “in mid-June, the Chinese market was shaken, but the negative influence on overall household wealth was limited, although this will be magnified during the forthcoming year by any depreciation of RMB-USD”. However, an increase of 10.4% of the global total of 345 trillion USD in 2020 is also predicted, which represents an amount of 36 trillion USD for China’s total wealth. This would allow to the country to maintain itself to the 2nd place in the prize list.

Chinese Middle Class

We already know China is increasing its wealth, although we see a slow in its economy. The report shows how much Chinese’s middle class has evolved in 15 years, from 524 million in 2000 to 664 million of people in 2015. This represents 11% of its adult population and 14% of the world’s global population. These statistics shows China is still the largest country in the world in this category, with 109 million people against America, which count 92 million middle class adults.

The report says however these calculations depend on America, as a standard pattern. The US define their own middle class as the population of adults who earn between 50 000 and 500 000 USD, in mid-2015. Moreover, the calculation takes into account the buying power of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Flat Values Series. This is calculated depending on local purchasing power. With this baseline, it is possible to calculate the middle class range of foreign countries.

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